Blackout Wednesday gains popularity as pre-Thanksgiving trend
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Thanksgiving Day may be a time for family and friends to gather around the table in gratitude, but the night before, all bets are off.
Blackout Wednesday – not to be confused with Black Friday, which comes after turkey day – is the day before Thanksgiving when people hit the town and alcohol sales spike.
The unofficial pre-Thanksgiving holiday, also referred to as Thanksgiving Eve or Drinksgiving, started making headlines around 2012 when people began noticing a large increase in alcohol sales for that one day. However, it didn’t receive an official name until 2015.
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Since then, the pre-holiday celebration has been growing in popularity, and with that, so have beer and liquor sales.
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According to data analyzed by Upserve, a restaurant management platform, there was a 23 percent increase in overall restaurant sales the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, compared to other weeks.
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Of the data pulled, that 23 percent was prompted mainly by booze. Overall beer sales increased by 270 percent, with sales on growlers growing by a staggering 658 percent – the largest increase on any menu item.
Liquor sales also grew by an average of 114 percent.
Food orders increased slightly, up by about 28 percent than previous weeks.
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However, the interesting thing is that the number of checks only increased by 18 percent, suggesting that a small amount of large groups are driving the huge increases on liquor and beer.
While it is unknown what specific scenario compels people to tie one on before the holidays – whether catching up with old friends or trying to avoid relatives – it does appear the phenomenon is gaining traction each year.